With this crazy weather, you never know what you’re going to get from one day to the next. Take last month for example, the beginning of January started out with some snow and wind chills in the single digits for the first weekend. A week later I was walking around in the woods in a t-shirt then the following morning I woke up to a snow covered ground where it snowed sideways the entire day with wind chills in the low 20’s. A couple days later the sun was back out and the snow was gone.
It is winter after all and typically the coldest time of the year but so far it’s been more like one day of winter, followed by a few days of early spring, and this past week summer time temperatures made an appearance. I’ll take it as I’ve kept cabin fever from sitting in by getting out on those warmer days. Last month my buddy Sammy Pugh and I made it out for our annual grouse hunt.
Sammy’s ole bird dog Jack passed away last year and after losing him he purchased another English Setter pup to continue the tradition. He told me beforehand he didn’t know how the hunt would go because the pup is still young and in training but you have to start somewhere so we hit the old clear-cut. We followed the pup and Sammy’s other dog Mady up the hill and hit an old logging road.
We only walked a couple hundred yards when all of a sudden the pup started getting excited. Sammy no longer said “get ready” when 2 grouse took off. They sailed across a small stream towards the other side of the hollow and I didn’t even bother to shoulder my shotgun because I thought they were out of range. “Boom” a shot rang out as Sammy fired and the grouse kicked sideways. “I think you hit that thing” I said to Sammy as I watched where the bird hit the ground.
“I’ll keep my eye on the last spot I saw it” I said to Sammy as it landed by a log covered in moss. We crossed the creek and headed towards the moss covered log. The pup beat us there and almost caught the grouse by the tail as it tried to take off again.
The grouse bounced up and down with the pup right behind it and finally it cleared for a quick follow up shot from Sammy. We admired the beautiful bird while the pup smelled what we were after. “I think he’s going to make a fine bird dog” I said to Sammy as I congratulated him on making a heck of a shot.
We hit another clear-cut after that but the temperatures warmed up and Mady wore out as she’s a little out of shape. To her defense we were too so we loaded up and called it a day. The pup wasn’t quite ready to call it quits and Sammy had to coax him into the dog box. I like that pup and can’t wait to watch him in action again.
A few days after that the thermometer read in the low 60’s and the first fishing trip of the new year took place. I couldn’t wait to get back on the creek and neither could Tara and Kelsey. Tara and I took turns fishing the holes while Kelsey played in the creek. I told Tara “I can’t believe she’s playing in the creek in January” but she sure had fun catching creatures and finding treasures.
Tara took her turn on a big deep hole with an undercut rock that holds a big brown trout as I hooked it last year. She threw a few casts only to find a couple creek chubs at the other end of her line. This was the perfect chance for Kelsey to practice on her fish catching skills. On consecutive casts Kelsey caught creek chubs all by herself on the fly rod. Not too shabby for a 5 year old even if they were just creek chubs. I apologize for the proud dad moment.
After that we had been fishing for a couple hours and Kelsey was wearing down. Her hands were cold and numb as well so we worked our way back towards the truck. Of course there was that one last hole I wanted to check out before we called it a day. I slowly worked my way up to the hole that has a leaning sycamore hanging over it. There’s always a nice brown under that sycamore and sure enough he was still there. I eased into position as I kept an eye on the dark shadow hovering on the bottom.
I knew I only had one cast as these wild fish either eat or spook. Tara and Kelsey watched from above as I threw in a few feet above the fish. My offering slowly sank and when it hit the bottom the brown slowly moved towards it. I had to wait and not set the hook too early as it’s easy to do when you’re sight fishing. The brown opened his mouth and when it closed I set and connected. The fish was a little sluggish with the colder water temperatures and didn’t put up much of a fight which worked well for me as Tara was able to climb down the bank and net it. It measured just over 18 inches and provided a quick picture before I sent him back to his home.
“That’s a good one to end on” Tara said and I agreed. Kelsey did too. There is nothing better than spending quality family time in the outdoors. I’m so glad and fortunate that my girls love to fish as much as I do. I can’t wait until our next adventure to the river and looking at the forecast it won’t be long. Get out and enjoy these warm days as there’s no need to wait for spring with this crazy weather.
